The Road Never Considered
by Count Papaya
Summary: Even with Cologne's help and training, Ryoga lands in second place with Ranma at first. As he routinely wanders off in hopes of training and getting stronger, Ryoga inadvertently finds his way home. To his surprise, his mother is in. The reunion didn't play out in anyway he had imagine.


8/25/2012

Yup. Yup. Expecting me? Yeah. Me neither.

Alright. Well I've LOVED Ranma 1/2 ever since I was younger but never actually, you know, acted on it. Going through tons of fanfiction over the years I've noticed that my favorite charcter, Ryoga, barely gets any spot light compared to Ranma. Well, I can see why everyone doesn't bother using Ryoga since Ranma IS the main character. Its just that Ryoga always stood out to me more so than Ranma, I mean he's just a boss. Not that many people like him since he always gets Ranma's way and can be an idiot sometimes, but still. Ryoga just is a loveable goof with just has the qualities of main character and I adore him.

So you know, here's just a bit of plot thing I came up with just yesterday. You can tell it was rushed through. There is hardly any corrections because I wanted to post this as fast as possible.

* * *

July

It wasn't the first time he woke up surrounded by water, too bad it probably wouldn't be the last time either. His piglet form remained lax as Ranma groggily pulled him and herself out of river. Ryoga had lost the match. Again.

Ranma gave a moan and flung the piglet out the water and into the land that surrounded it. With his recent training and those last hundred punches, Ryoga barely felt the pain from bouncing off the mud. It wasn't that he wasn't hurting, in fact, he was sore all over. He was just too tired, too drained to register anymore. His black ball-like figure sunk in the mud and didn't bother to get out. He had lost to Ranma. Again.

The petite girl beside him murmured something but he missed it. Ranma should learn how to enunciate his words better if he truly wanted to be heard. Inconsiderate jerk.

The old ghoul hopped over to check on Ranma, ignoring Ryoga completely, which he noted to his irritation. As it turned out Bakusai Tenketsu wasn't a deadly technique. His eyes widened but quickly narrowed. Great. A move to clear rocks out of the way. It was just his luck to put himself through torture in the name of training to learn an attack that really couldn't have beaten Ranma. Even if he had made contact with Ranma's skull nothing would've happened and he would've been brutalized with Ranma's new found speed. Typical.

Hours slipped away as Ryoga finally finished loading his backpack. It was getting late, clouds were scattered across the sky, all of them were painted in assortments of yellows and pinks as the sun glowed as bright red. If he wanted to get any distance covered he'd have to hurry before it got too dark. Then it occurred to him; where was he going?

"Well...I guess it looks like you've won this time, Ranma."

"Huh. Right." His rival didn't look amused. "Well, I guess I sorta did knock you unconscious, moron, so it does appear that I've won."

Cologne sent a flat expression toward Ranma.

"And it is such a mystery to why some people are always out to kill you, Son-in-law."

As Ranma was about to give a retort he'd probably regret later, Ryoga turned his back towards the pair and started on his way. He was a wanderer and fate, despite its cruelties, would show him his destination. Hopefully somewhere without too much water.

"H-Hey! Ryoga?"

Still with his back towards them, Ryoga lifted his umbrella and shoved it snuggly inside his backpack.

"I agreed to a man-to-man fight and I shall act accordingly, Ranma. You should be thankful I'm not the type to hold grudges."

Ranma gave him a look.

"Hmm." He paused. Ryoga turned his head to meet Ranma's gaze. "Give Akane-san my regards."

Ranma's deadpanned expression melted as he watched Ryoga turn and continue forward on the dirt road. Beside him, Cologne noticed the faint concerned expression on the boy's face. Her gaze went back to the figure disappearing into the glow of the setting sun. With a sign, she went on and said, "The loser leaves the field, Son-in-law. It is how things are and always have been. You both know this to be true."

Ranma gave a low hum.

"In fact, I predict we may not see him for a long while."

...

...

"Where the heck am I now?"

With an aggravated groan, Ryoga had to keep himself from tearing his map of Peru. He was in lost in what seemed to be an unmaintained field. The cattails were practically up to his knees now. He gave a scowl, people just were too lazy to lazy nowadays. As nice as it is to see tall grass grow it's dangerous to keep it at this height. There were children playing the street for pity's sake! There could be snakes, or spiders, or annoying pigtailed idiots on the prowl!

Oh. Wait?

He looked around. He wasn't lost in a field; he was lost in somebody's front lawn. There even was a gate in the front with a family name imprinted in marble, exactly how did he miss that? He needed to get off here fast before the neighbors or owners got suspicious.

"Wan! Wan!"

No. That couldn't be. Ryoga turned to see a dog with half-black, half-white fur sitting down on the front porch. Shirokuro, his dog and possibly his best and only friend, wagged her tail furiously, betraying what little patience she was displaying.

"Shirokuro!" It had been weeks, maybe even months since he last saw her. Ryoga gave a cry as he quickly dove over to her, face first and arms outstretched to give her a tight hug.

"OUCH!"

She bit his nose.

He shot his hands over his nose and quickly recoiled back. No, no, no, no, NO! First his misfortune at Jusenkyo, his loss to that insufferable Saotome both in battle and the heart of Akane, now his most trusted friend has turned against him! He was never home to feed her or take her outside like real owners. Despite her intelligence and ability to stand up and pick objects up with her paws, Shirokuro must have suffered much through Ryoga's constant. It was easy to see that rage that clouded her once docile eyes. If only he wasn't cursed by his family's sense (rather, lack) of direction he would've stayed by her side, just as a good owner should have. If he hadn't followed Ranma to China. If he hadn't chased after Ranma. If Ranma had just stayed put like he should've…! Ryoga threw his head back and took a deep breath.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAA-"

The living room door slid open with a loud bang and Ryoga's yell died with a choke. An irritated woman gave Ryoga the nastiest looking glare he had ever seen on a woman. Her eyes were wide open, her eyebrows were pushed together, and her upper lip folded upwards. This was the expression that he was quite familiar with. The expression he would see while passing punks and juveniles hanging around FamilyMart. But the face that this expression was on was what affected him the most; his mother's.

"It's 10 o'clock in the morning and I-" She paused in mid-rant. Her brown eyes widened and her mouth gaped, exposing the sharp canine's he had inherited. "R-Ryoga!"

"Mother!" he cried. "I-"

She interrupted him and flung her slender arms around him, trapping him within her embrace. "My little Ga-chan!"

His faced burned red. As much as he enjoyed his mother's embrace, he didn't want to make a show in the neighborhood. Ryoga could see the kids stopping what they were doing to watch. He whined, "M-Mother…"

"My precious, little Ga-chan! My handsome boy is finally home!" Tears threatened to stream down her face.

Ryoga felt his stomach sink (he also noted his nose still stung) as he saw the tears filling up in his mother's eyes.

"H-How about we go inside, Mother? I'm sure it would be better if we talked inside!"

"My baby! My ba-"

He and Shirokuro quickly dragged her inside.

...

...

So, Shirokuro was pregnant. He would have to find that dog she mated with, teach him a thing or two for being absent and leaving her side. Womanizing bastard was probably cheating on his Shirokuro and taking advantage some other poor girl.

Saotome…!

At least Shirokuro had stopped him even if it did result in him being bitten. Seeing how emotionally driven he was to embrace her Ryoga might've crushed her with his newfound strength. He gave a shudder. Had that played through it would've have been horribly traumatic.

Ryoga sat awkwardly down in his family's living room for the first time in months, maybe the first in a year that he sat with his mother beside him. She smiled happily as she poured another cup of apple tea in his cup. He hid a grimace; honestly, apple tea was too sickly sweet for him and tasted too much of syrup but there was no need to share that with his mother. She must have traveled perilously through sand and water to reach a convenience store and back home.

"So how was your day today, Ga-chan?" She stopped herself and lifted an index finger to her chin. "Or rather…how has your week been?"

Ryoga felt sweat on his brow. He and his parents rarely ever saw each other so interaction was limited. Even if they were home they would end up lost, it would always be Shirokuro to act as their beacon of hope and guidance. He barely knew his parents. His father was a door-to-door salesman and his mother was a housewife…whenever she had the chance. He gave his mother a shaky smile.

"I-I um…I learned how to crush boulders with my index finger."

She gave him a brilliant smile. So that had been a good answer, Ryoga felt his shoulders dip down in relief. That wasn't as bad start, maybe they could have a pleasant conversation after all. He watched a she brought her own cup down from her smiling face.

"That's wonderful, darling! Now, how was school?"

Ryoga blinked.

"…school?"

The air suddenly was crushing his entire being; his mind and body trapped underneath an anchor as the waters of despair crashed over him. He fell back and scuttled back until he met the rice paper walls behind him. His mother had a thin smile as the cup in her hands was shattered across the table separating the two.

"I could have sworn you were enrolled in high school, Ga-chan," his mother sang as if her hands weren't shaped in claws and weren't twitching.

High school? Ryoga stared at her with his mouth agape. The last time he went at school was a little after Ranma's retreat to China. Without a moment's hesitation, he thought out loud, "High school? I didn't even finish 9th grade."

Her smile disappeared.

...

...

"-A-ANDANDSOICHALLENGEDHIMTOAMAT CHANDLOSTBECAUSEIACTUALLYLEA RNATECHNIQUEMEANTFORCONSTRUC TIONANDILOSTSOILEFTANDCAMEHO MEANDSHIROKUROBITMEANDYOUWER EHOMEANDGAVEMEAPPLETEA!"

Ryoga finished with his face firmly on the ground just as he started. The tatami floor was unforgiving, leaving dozens of indents on his forehead. His hands were placed in front of him and his legs were folded underneath his torso. With a side glance, he saw that Shirokuro sat in the corner of the room with her tail between her legs. Not that he could blame her, his mother was downright terrifying. He didn't dare to look up at his mother, he had saw her face earlier when had just gotten home making a ruckus; he could only imagine the horror that she wore now.

"So…" his mother started. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she continued. "You got in a fight with a boy who would cut you in line at lunch, followed him to China, picked up a 'pig-curse', and continue follow him to the ends of the earth to challenge him to a rematch?"

Ryoga wisely kept his mouth shut.

"And exactly what made you think, in ANY possible way, that it was okay to just pack up and leave?"

He mumbled.

"What was that, Ryoga?"

He mumbled a little louder.

"I expect an answer, Ryoga. You're 15 years old!"

"It was my honor that was stake!" He tried to say it with conviction but it came out weak.

"A duel over the all the lunches you missed?"

His head shot up. He had to admit, when she put it that way it sounded completely stupid. Ryoga dared to look up, but as his eyes met her chin they went back down the ground again. This was all Ranma's fault. If only he had just shown up the fourth day his mother wouldn't have to be looking so down on him.

"Not just that! I-" he stopped. His mother's eyes gave him a pitying look. He gritted his teeth, "Don't look at me like that!"

"Ryo-"

"Stoppit!" He felt bile rising up in the back of his throat and the back of eyes stung as he watched his own mother pitying gaze. "I-I don't want your pity!"

Shirokuro gave a soft whine in the back.

"You haven't thought this through at all, Ryoga." His mother spoke softly. Ryoga furiously rubbed his eyes with his arm before shaking his head. She sighed. "And I can no way say that I understand what you've been through…"

Ryoga glowered. Of course she didn't. It was easy to see that she didn't really believe in the curse, but he had to admit, how could she? It was nonsense and none of it would've been possible if hadn't been for Ranma. He lost match after match, even with the new technique he had learned from that mummy, and lost the right to court Tendo Akane.

"But there is no way I let this continue on any longer," she sighed. She took her eyes off of Ryoga and closed her eyes. It was easy even for him to see she was deep in thought. Her shoulders rose and fell as she took another deep breath. "I can see that this, too, my fault. So I shall stop my travels and stay here at home just as should've done years ago."

"Mother?" he asked.

"You need proper guidance now that you will be finishing school."

Ryoga gasped. "B-But I have to! Ranma-"

"Ryoga!" she barked, baring her canine teeth. He froze and lowered his hands back to the floor. "Ranma will do what Ranma will do! He has his life and you have yours. What you do with your time shouldn't revolve around whatever this boy does."

The corners of Ryoga's mouth pulled down into a frown. It's not like he was stalking Saotome, he just wanted to find him and beat him in a rematch. It wasn't like it was his fault for getting lost and having to find his way back to Nerima. Maybe things could've been done sooner if wasn't always out in Hokkaido. "All I want is to…" he trailed off.

"Beat Ranma. I can see that, Ryoga, and it seems you have yet to defeat him too."

Ryoga felt his head lower as felt a weight of shame hover over him.

"Mother…"

"So why don't you beat him in something other than marital arts?"

Huh?

...

...

It was dark out now. The sky was a dark blue and the sun had fell long before he finally made it back to his room. With a grunt he finally finished putting jacket of his black military-style uniform on.

"It…well, it fits but it's sort of snug." He was blushing a little and made an effort to be modest. It had been awhile since he had worn his old uniform. With his travels Ryoga did gain muscles; even though he still did look lanky with sleeves covering his developed arms. "Do I really have to wear this again? Ranma doesn't have to wear his uniform at Furinkan."

"Ranma-this, Ranma-that, Ranma-doesn't this, Ranma-doesn't that," her mother droned. His eye twitched. Exactly where was the woman that was just about to cry her heart out when he just arrived? She gave a sigh. "So Ranma doesn't wear his uniform? Huh. Makes him sound like a delinquent. Ga-chan, maybe you can beat him in school behavior too."

With a heavy heart and heavy emotional smack down from his mother, Ryoga decided what would become of him. He would defeat Ranma in epic battle of honor; except, it didn't involve his fists or martial art techniques of grandeur as he preferred.

No. Not yet. Maybe later.

This time, Hibiki Ryoga would defeat Ranma at test scores, grades, clubs, and at friends. Seriously, when comparing himself to Ranma, his attitude, his horrible socializing skills, and just Ranma's entire unnatural being; people far and wide would be waiting in line to be his friend. With this path he would keep up with his training and study, go to college, and charm the fair Tendo Akane with his success.

He just had to finish middle school first.

* * *

8/26/12

I want to say I'll update later, but you can see that the status of rest of my other stories will prove otherwise. My idea for Ryoga's dad is making me giddy. I want to revisit my other stories because I have realized...NONE OF THEM HAVE A REAL PLOT. I mean, what do you expect? It's a bunch of crossover crap with a bit of promise. I want to finish at least A Nightmare Worth Living Through but I'm thinking about just turning it into an epic oneshot than just blurting out all the plot points I was planning on doing if I actually went through the whole 10 plus chapters. Huh. I apologize. I know it's been unfair but this whole fanfic thing has just been for fun.

So...I'll catch you later? Bye!


End file.
